Sami Partanen’s 25-year Major League career will end soon. There have been joys and disappointments, as well as interesting name choices, in the journey of a colorful personality.
Playing in Kiteen Pallo Sami Partanen, 43, amazing baseball career ends this season. Having started his major league career in Kitee in 1997 and has also played in Järvenpää, Kouvola and Imatra, the Saaren Urheilijoden näsvätti admits that his mood is a bit wistful.
– This is moving, one period of turmoil is now coming to an end. On the other hand, I have been with you for a long time, because last fall I made a decision about my last season.
He is happy to end his career on his own terms.
– I can be satisfied and smile when I think about what I was able to give to different teams. The decision to stop is still not based on the fact that I am tired of the demands of the sport. I feel this solution is only right, now is the time.
When thinking about how 26 years in the main series is possible, Partanen brings up two things.
– The most important thing is that health has allowed me to play at the top level for a long time. It is also very significant that I have felt a huge passion for baseball throughout my career.
– The same spark has been there ever since I started playing at the age of seven. Or to be even more specific, it started even earlier when I was a ball boy.
As a game manager?
The colorful player also knew how to let the judges have a say. Hannu Luostarinen /AOP
Partanen has played 811 games in his career in the regular season and playoffs. Above, in the match statistics, only this season has also ended his career Toni Kohonen.
Partanen has scored 588 runs, brought in 355 runs and tapped in 3118 hits, which entitles him to ninth place in the all-time hitters statistics. Partanen, who is also known for his amazing outside playing skills as a frontcourt man, has won nine SM medals, three of which are gold. He also played in sixteen men’s East–West matches.
The man himself doesn’t want to elevate any merit over another, but sees his career as a whole.
– I appreciate every year I’ve played and all the teams I’ve been a part of. They contain a huge number of different experiences, each of which is valuable in its own way, even if the season had been weak in terms of results.
Partanen has also already received merits as a game director. In 2016, he was chosen as the best game director of the boys’ Superpesis. Game management tasks will also be interesting in the future.
– I am so attached to baseball that I will definitely continue with the sport. In the next season, he is thinking of being a game director in Kiteen Pallo’s youth team.
Partanen does not consider a quick transition to the men’s main league team’s flag fan already next season likely.
– At least now it doesn’t seem topical, because it’s a completely different world. Maturing that thing requires its own kind of process.
“Jymy is a troll”
The frontcourt is Sami Partanen’s kingdom. Elmeri Elo / AOP
Partanen’s career has included many things. When reflecting on the most poignant moment, he brings up the 2010 Kouvola–Vimpeli final series.
– During the first weekend, we lost to Vimpel twice in the home run. After that, it was a long week to wait for the continuation of the series. In the end, Vimpeli won the series 3–1, which was a big disappointment.
The most emotional opponent has been Sotkamon’s Jymy.
– Jymy has been a troll and red clothes. This dates back to the early 1990s, when Sotkamo and Imatra had fierce final series fights.
– Over the years, I have mirrored a lot of my own work in their work, which means that Jymy has been a motivator at the same time.
He has also received many memorials from fans over the years.
– Among other things, coffee, which you tend to have plenty of anyway.
Partanen bursts into laughter at the same time. In the past years, one fan had a figure made of matchboxes, which was named after Partanen’s nickname “Pikku-Eko”.
– In a way, it was a tamagotchi that was fed and watered according to the hit product of the time.
Taipalee has also been able to accommodate a variety of shouts from the stands.
– The funniest have been the shouts related to my height of 166 centimetres: the boat pin and the chicken catcher. My age, on the other hand, has been accompanied by the cries of “is your memory gone when you don’t stop thinking” and “can they even get an evening off from the old people’s home these days”, Partanen mumbles.
Known as an outspoken player, Partanen also got back in the hall game.
– I was inspired to comment on the referee’s judgments. He stated that he can’t bear to listen because he doesn’t even get paid for judging.
– He said that if I continue the same, he will go home. I then made the mistake of presenting my views on the verdicts again. He whistled throughout the game and yelled, “I’m coming here.” I replied that I don’t think so. After that, the judge left. Fortunately, a judge was found to replace him, Partanen smiles.
A drunkard’s creation
This is how Kitee tried to court sponsorship rubles from behind the eastern border. Juha Tamminen / AOP
Partanen’s nickname “Eko” was strongly influenced by the drunken mason.
– In the 1980s, the bricklayer who went to drink was working at my godfather’s house. He never remembered my name, but called me Erki. The godfather then came up with the idea of changing the name to “Eko”.
A few years ago, the last name on the back of Kite’s jersey became Russian. There was a clear reason for that.
– The attempt was to get sponsors from across the border to support the club. It didn’t work out.
– The baseball association didn’t like the idea, they banned it, even though I had left the name out earlier. Today, due to the world situation, there is no need to even think about a similar name idea.
When comparing the present to past years, Partanen says he misses the time of VHS video cassettes.
– They were watched together on the bus during game trips. Nowadays, everyone is largely on their own with computers and handsets, which means that the sense of community is no longer the same.
I remember the bus trip as a semi-scary experience.
– The bus door did not close. When we got to the long straight, I noticed the driver got out of his seat, and the car continued to drive. He had decided to close the door from the flight with a sleight of hand.